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We are originally from NYC and spent the past two years in eastern NC. I don't love NC, but my wife does not like it at all. Our neighbors are very into our business. We are catholic and a definite minority. The biggest problem is we picked a smallish city that's mostly a retirement community with many older people, as well as people who do not want to see the city grow or change at all. The police would rather give tickets to cyclists then ever see bike lanes added. They pretty much hate northerners. Southern hospitality is not what they claim. It's similar to NYC, you have your nice people and your rude people, just on a much smaller scale.

Sorry for the little rant, but I have a job offer near Santa Rosa and my wife and I are considering relocating. I basically have two questions. Having searched the recent MLS there appear to be homes in the price range we can afford around $250,000-$275,000, but can anyone tell me how the neighborhoods these homes are in are like? We like to be safe walking our dog after dark, as well as exercising (biking, jogging, etc).

The good part we might defintely miss is the low crime rate where we are now, one or no murders each of the past five years.

Housing prices vary by neighborhoods and cities. There are some great neighborhoods & bad ones. There's also a lot of Foreclosures in the San Francisco Bay Area at this time. So you can find a lot of great deals!

Outdoor exercising is very easily found. There are a lot of trails in Sonoma County.

I highly suggest logging on to the local paper, pressdemo.com for ideas on crime & the surrounding neighborhoods. There have been gang problems in some areas of Santa Rosa.

Depending on where you live compared to where you work, be ready for traffic. The traffic in the northern Bay Area is bad. A large number of people live in Sonoma or Marin county & commute to San Francisco. My BIL lives in Bennett Valley (off Hwy 12) and works in SF. It takes him over an hour to get to SF, leaving Santa Rosa by 6a. There is construction on 101 in multiple cities, and depending on the work they do, traffic can back up very easily.

with regards to your price range, it would be difficult to find a single family home in a neighborhood *I* would care to live (I have lived in Sonoma Cty for MANY years...but you might find a condo in a nice area. Like the previous poster mentioned, Bennett Valley is nice, also Rincoln Valley, some of the older neighborhoods like around Humboldt St, Beaver St, etc.

Stay out of the Roseland area!!!!! pretty much most if not all of zip 95407.
Some of the street names are Rosewood, Cottonwood, (lots of "wood" names, Corby Ave...to name a few...lots of problems there...

Also look in Rohnert Park, just a handful of miles south..we have lived there for 11 years now and have been happy.

If you are older 55 plus then there are some great deals on mobile homes. I think you can get an older two bedroom for $15,000 or less and a space rent of $400 or less per month. In the good areas like Rincon Valley and north central Santa Rosathere are four mobile home parks. I mean if you want to wait a few years to let Real Estate drift down or to determine whether this area is for you.

Also this area seems to have alot of Catholic churches. I was helped by Catholic charities, they gave me $25 to get a drivers license when I was homeless. I needed the drivers license to apply for jobs and get a checking account. When I did get some money I donated $35 to them to help someone else get their ID card or Drivers license. I am not even Catholic. They also run a homeless outreach center that allows you to receive mail and phonecalls as well as wash your clothes and take showers. I also ate at their daily free lunch program. Thank God for the Catholics.

We are originally from NYC and spent the past two years in eastern NC. I don't love NC, but my wife does not like it at all. Our neighbors are very into our business. We are catholic and a definite minority. The biggest problem is we picked a smallish city that's mostly a retirement community with many older people, as well as people who do not want to see the city grow or change at all. The police would rather give tickets to cyclists then ever see bike lanes added. They pretty much hate northerners. Southern hospitality is not what they claim. It's similar to NYC, you have your nice people and your rude people, just on a much smaller scale.

Sorry for the little rant, but I have a job offer near Santa Rosa and my wife and I are considering relocating. I basically have two questions. Having searched the recent MLS there appear to be homes in the price range we can afford around $250,000-$275,000, but can anyone tell me how the neighborhoods these homes are in are like? We like to be safe walking our dog after dark, as well as exercising (biking, jogging, etc).

The good part we might defintely miss is the low crime rate where we are now, one or no murders each of the past five years.

Thank you for any input.

insert n. florida... and insert Chicago instead of NYC... same situation, moving to the same place... good luck!

Petaluma and Sebastopol are even less affordable than Santa Rosa so If you are on a tight budget they are probably not the best locations to concentrate on.I agree with missdaisy about the roseland area,avoid . Also the Dutton Avenue area is not the best.I was born and raised in Santa Rosa and if I could afford to purchase there I would move back but...I just go and visit my family and look at houses.

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